September Plant Friends

One curse of digital photography: I took 200 photos on our trip to Monterey. 200 photos take a while for me to sort through, improve if possible or necessary, and generally decide what to do with. So long that I'm just not posting about the trip itself. I just don't like posting without the evidence. Soon.

But now lets get to the plants. Before we left I had a lot of time to get our place settled and think about the garden. My last Plant Friend Update mentioned some spider mite incursions, which didn't really fall back after the second neem treatment. I also started to have problems keeping the basil bug-free. So I pulled out the big guns, the carnivores.



These little beauties were just $6.99 for over 1,000 at Walter Andersen's. They have a variety of carnivores to chose from, and their staff will help you choose. I went with the Ladies because they love spider mites, but also eat a variety of other pests. Mark helped me release them on well-misted foliage at dusk, and they just went to town. Plant happiness ensued.

So with such healthy little guys I felt okay leaving them on their own for four days, and it was a perfect opportunity to try something I'd read about a while ago on thekitchn. All I needed was some jute twine (and if you know me well you know I've got twine), a big tub, and gravity. Cut a bunch of twine and soaked it in a large (preferably orange) tub of water, placed higher up than the plants you intend to keep moist. Soak them until they sink.



Then cut off lengths of twine long enough to string them from the bottom of the tub to each plant, plus a few inches. I used a little ramekin to keep the twine in place at the bottom of the tub, but I'm not sure that's necessary. Sting the twine from the tub, burying the other end a few inches in the soil near the base of each plant.



Chopsticks helped me get the twine down without disturbing the soil much. There are a few variations. You can double-up for plants that want more water and push the string down deeper for plants that have deeper root systems. I hooked this up for each strawberry, basil, the thyme, brussels sprout, and the tomato. And it worked great! When we got home the plants were happy and the twine was still wet.

I gave everyone a good watering when I left but the cilantro seemed to be officially done. Since I was going to harvest the seeds for spice, I let it stay in the ground 'till it was a little crispy. I didn't want it to start seeding itself while we were gone, though, so I cut the whole thing down. Now, I had to find someplace to dry it AND collect the seeds in our overstuffed apartment. Enter more twine.



Mark had this great box from his last trip to the alcohol emporium, across which I stretched one of our few remaining plastic bags (oh! sometimes they're useful), which I taped in place. A few pieces of bamboo provided a frame from which to hang the cilantro. It's not gorgeous, but it's kept everything neat and fit right on the very unused fireplace hearth. Yesterday I went through and squeezed off all the remaining seeds. Delicious.

Plant Friend Update

It's definitely August, right? The weather feels like September and my late start in the garden has it looking like July. Split the difference.
Here's what's up on the patio.
Finally! Some Oregano. I planted, oh, 80 or so seeds this year and last. Here's what finally happened:



Of course now the bugs have found it. But I'm very stubborn, so it's an organic smackdown. I've been using Neem oil on these and the spider mites that are going after one of my rows of strawberries, with decent success. If I start to lose ground, though, I've got a dried jalepeno in the wings for some chili tea, veg oil, and safe soap spray. Hai-ya!



The tomaters are in! So far I've only got three in various stages of readiness. I don't think I have enough full sun for more. The red fellow in the photo there got me a little too excited and I picked it before it was ripe. Yeah, not so tasty. I'm resolved to be much more patient.



The strawberries, despite their intermittent infestations, are still producing sporadically. That's partly the mites but mostly this is their first year, so they're still learning. I think it makes the fruit more fun, though. Every few days we get just one surprise berry that forces us to savor it more while we're sharing our tiny bites.



The heirloom sprout is up! And ready to be transplanted. This guy popped up in less than a week, even after I dropped the seed packet over the balcony and then behind a pot and into a puddle. Great way to treat heirlooms, no? Well I climbed over some shrubbery and employed my husbands long arms and everybody's fine. Next time, no planting in high wind!




And the flowers. I've got more than ever now. Mixed wildflowers, poppies. The zebra aloe sent out three spikes this year as opposed to the usual one. My cilantro has also flowered and is beautiful and bee-happy. I like the flavor of the little whispy leaves, too. So it's still in the guacamole while it gets ready to give me it's coriander seeds.

The Vortex: Part I

Here it is.




I'm off to give this mess a two hour spurt while Mark sleeps. He's still on nights, which should be a perfectly productive schedule for me, except that I can't so much sleep when he's not here. At any rate. I hope to make some progress, if only of the mental sort, this afternoon before I break for roasting turkey, and browning up some butternut squash & peas. Then on to Hanukkah (we're halfway through) and another fidgety night, unless I can figure out how to relax before 2 or 3 am. Let's hope.

On a more positive note, I did finish one thing. Ha.



It's context will remain secret for now so that I don't spoil any possible admiring that might happen during out little holiday gathering next week. Hopes Up. In the meantime, I am happy with it. Mostly because I was able to use up some junk mail in a very pretty way. One thing I've been trying to do more of, since there's no stopping the junk mail monster.

The Vortex

Back to the subject of our slow little home.

Mark and I have a big back closet in the guest room/library/office. This room is not a great loft, so how many issues can you find in that last sentence? Yes, it's a disaster. And beyond the frustration of climbing over things and constantly shuffling boxes and bins, I've started to lose things. Right now I walk back there and my teeth start to itch. So, I'd love to Cure it, but I think it's going to be a quick team clean & organize.

It's going to be interesting, with me as the tortoise and Mark as the hare in these situations. Okay, most situations. Hopefully we'll both be victorious.